Uri Shaked is Wine Personality of The Year for 2010. The award was announced at Israwinexpo, and presented by Wine, Gourmet & Alcohol Magazine’s publisher, Adi Avissar and editor, Mira Eitan.

Uri Shaked is founder and owner of Shaked, Israel’s leading wine distributor and importer of fine wines. He is also owner and founder of the Derech Ha’Yayin (Wine Route) chain of quality wine stores.

He made his first impact in the wine business as the exclusive distributor within Israel for the Golan Heights Winery. The Golan’s success in the early years was as much to do with the excellent distribution and sales network, as the quality of the wine.

As a retailer, the opening of the first Derech Ha’Yayin Wine Shop at a stroke brought international retailing standards to Israel. The store remains Israel’s premier wine store and their cellar remains the most exclusive treasure trove of quality wines in Israel. They proudly display the most comprehensive list of Israeli & imported wines available in Israel, plus an unequalled list of fine wines for the collector. The shop is situated at 90 Ha’Hashmonaim Street, in Tel Aviv. Now there is a chain of five Derech Ha’Yayin stores. The others are in Ra’anana, Ness Ziona, Savion and Modi’in.

To develop wine culture, he opened a Wine School at Derech ha’Yayin, in association with Golan Heights Winery. The first manager of the school was Yair Hajdu, who went on to work for Riedel. This in its time represented a step forward for Israeli wine culture.

As a distributor he was the first to develop an imported wine to become one of the leading selling brands in Israeli supermarkets. His success with a kosher Gato Negro encouraged others to import wines for the mass market. He is now a big player in both supermarkets, and the quality hotel & restaurant market.

Today he is part owner of Recanati Winery, which he also distributes and sells in his shops. Therefore, he has involvement in every aspect of the Israeli wine business. So for his involvement with the Golan Heights Winery, Derech Ha’Yayin, Gato Negro, Recanati and for his part as an importer, distributor & retailer of quality wines, he thoroughly deserves his recognition. He has been an important figure in the Israel wine revolution.